


Breathe Daniel

by Wolf___Spirit



Category: Cobra Kai (Web Series), Karate Kid (Movies)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Angst, Angst and Hurt/Comfort, Emotional Hurt Johnny Lawrence, First Kiss, Fluff and Angst, Hospitals, Hurt Daniel LaRusso, M/M, Realization of Feelings, Season/Series 03 Spoilers, Seeing your karate rival almost die makes you realize your feelings, Whump, cw blood, injury of greater character, kreese going to the jail, lawrusso, no beta we die like men, spoilers 3x10
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-01-22
Updated: 2021-01-22
Packaged: 2021-03-14 08:20:41
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,955
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28917480
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Wolf___Spirit/pseuds/Wolf___Spirit
Summary: Different ending 3x10: Just a moment's distraction is enough, and later Daniel is bleeding on the floor with Johnny begging him to breathe.
Relationships: Daniel LaRusso/Johnny Lawrence
Comments: 11
Kudos: 105





	Breathe Daniel

**Author's Note:**

> English is not my first language, Spanish is, so I apologize for any errors I may find within the fic. I do my best. It's a bit long, but I hope it's worth it. Hope you enjoy it <3

When he had Kreese on the ground, Daniel could only think of the beaten and bruised children, of Sam crying in his arms as he explained how scared she felt, and of Johnny, being strangled _again_ by his old sensei, that bastard. He could only think of protecting them.

So, yeah, he raised his arm and was willing to finish it all. For an instant, with his breathing ragged from the fight and the adrenaline of it coursing through his veins, he really thought about it.

Johnny leaned out the door, pale and shaken, but on his feet, and Daniel's gaze instantly softened, focused only on him, and became a silent question: _Are you okay?_ And later. _Do you want me to end this? I will only do it if you agree._

Johnny nodded seriously, and then his expression softened and he gave Daniel a small smile accompanied by the sweetest look he had ever given him: _Yes, go ahead. I trust you._

Daniel smiled back at her briefly and then his gaze focused on Kreese. Relentless decision burning in his dark eyes. He adjusted the position and a dark and deeply hidden part of himself was glad to see the fear in Kreese's eyes.

"Dad!"

Sam's voice brings him back from those dark places in his mind. His posture changes instantly. He lowers his arms and straightens, looking for his daughter with his eyes. She and Miguel come running towards them. That was his mistake, he will think later, he was distracted when the fight was not over yet.

"Dad! Watch out!"

Daniel frowns in confusion and turns to Kreese, but he's not fast enough. Kreese is on him in a second, flinging himself without calculation or strategy because his limbs are probably still a bit asleep yet. He punches Daniel in the stomach and knocks him out of breath, immediately driving him back until he hits his back with the car behind him.

Having received a great deal of beatings or beatings throughout his life (will he look for them or not), Daniel is used to being beaten. It's almost easy for him to push the pain out of his mind and save it for later, for when the fight is over, so he can fight back.

From the blow his back against the car when Kreese practically throws himself on it, he can recover. But the blow Kreese slams against his abdomen generates a wave of pain that he cannot control.

This is how he knows that it was not a normal hit.

Kreese _twists_ something in his abdomen and Daniel can't help screaming. It's ... it's beastly. He has never felt something like this. Her breath catches in his throat and he sees nothing but blackness as his legs leave him. Someone takes Kreese away from him. Daniel connects his eyes with blue eyes in front of him. "Joh ... nny" he falls to his knees.

And then he is floating. Everything around him feels hazy, far away. How did he get here? What's going on? Why can't he see? Why can't he _breathe_?

<< _Breathe Daniel-san_ >>

He blinks and his vision returns to him, blurry. He is kneeling on the pavement. His hands travel, shaking and unsteady, to the point on the abdomen where he was struck. There is a huge shard of glass sticking out. The pain feels a thousand times worse once he identifies it.

_Oh God._

His shirt has started to turn red at an alarming rate and Daniel suddenly feels numb, falling to the side. Someone is holding him by the arms. Someone is talking to him, but he cannot understand what he is saying.

<< _Breathe, Daniel-san_ >>

"Breathe Daniel, come on!"

I can't, sorry, he thinks. Sorry Mr. Miyagi, it hurts, I can't.

"Call someone! Now! Move!"

Daniel is back to that lost teenager again, half unconscious on Halloween night, fighting to the death in Okinawa, bleeding on a dojo mat who knows no mercy. He is bleeding ... Someone always comes to hit him again. When did his life turn into an eternal fight?

Someone is crying.

Daniel slowly reaches out a hand and places it on the wet cheek of the person who is holding him in his arms.

"Don't ... cry ... please" he begs, trying to gently stroke her cheek.

A hand rests on his. "Then don't die you idiot" that person says. There is a tumult of voices around him, but he cannot identify them or even understand them.

He is dying, then. Dying fighting ... That was probably always his only option.

Cough. It hurt. Someone is pressing on his wound. He wants to ask her to stop, but he is choking and cannot speak.

< _< Breathe, Daniel-san>_>

 _I can't, Mr. Miyagi. I am scared! I'm sorry_...

"I'm ... sorry" he murmurs in an almost inaudible voice. A trickle of something wet slides down his chin.

"No no no. LaRusso. Daniel! Don't do this. They need you" pleads the one holding him. And then, in a lower, broken voice: "I need you. Daniel, _please._ "

It's not Mr. Miyagi. Because Daniel is no longer that injured child on the ground. He is a man, with children and a life, bleeding on the pavement.

"Breathe Daniel"

 _Johnny_ , Daniel thinks. But everything shuts down and then he can't think anything at all.

 _I'm sorry_...

* * *

Johnny should have seen it coming. He should _have avoided it_. But he was so stunned and overwhelmed by the fear of death, the hatred for Kreese, the shame of him for what he did to Robby, and then, relentless devotion when he looked Daniel LaRusso in the eye ... It was too much at once.

Kreese had thrown him out of a window, and yet Daniel had him subdued when Johnny arrived. Johnny felt something spring from deep in his chest, a warmth for this man who just saved his life. He offered all his confidence in one glance and watched Daniel prepare for the final blow.

Then Samantha LaRusso appeared along with Miguel and yelled "Dad!" condemning LaRusso to a deadly distraction. Johnny watched it all in slow motion, and yet it happened too fast for him to stop it in time.

Kreese got up awkwardly (his limbs still half asleep. Johnny didn't know how LaRusso did that, but it was amazing) and threw himself at Daniel like a bull against the red cloth.

"Dad! Watch out!"

Johnny flinched at the hit that Daniel's back was thrown against the car, and a strange part of his mind fired like when he saw that guy pick Daniel up in that car shop and thought foolishly: _How are you doing with you? Can't you see that he's small?_

And then Daniel screamed. It was a horrible scream, definitely not the way someone screams when they just get hit.

"Dad!" Sam screamed, trying to get closer to her, and Miguel hugged her tightly against her body to prevent her from doing so.

Meanwhile, Johnny had already thrown himself into action. He grabbed Kreese by the Gi's neck and yanked him back hard, pulling him away from Daniel and throwing him to the ground, probably his limbs being half asleep helped make it easier.

"Damn," Johnny grunted, and immediately knocked him unconscious with a hard kick to the head. However, the expression Kreese had on his face before he kicked him would never be erased from his mind: he was smiling. He didn't get it, why the hell did he ...?

Johnny turned to LaRusso and, oh my god, then he got it.

Daniel stared at him, his big brown deer eyes glassy with pain and shock. He lowered his gaze and his eyes widened at the slowly growing red stain on Daniel's shirt, the cause being a huge shard of glass stuck in his abdomen. Kreese stabbed him. Kreese stabbed him and Johnny did _nothing_.

"Joh ... nny," Daniel stammered in a cracking voice, and then fell to his knees on the pavement. Johnny's legs moved toward him before his head finished processing what was happening.

"Shit," he muttered, catching Daniel before he finished falling to the ground. He holds him gently, fearing that the wrong touch might hurt him more and rests his head on his legs.

"Oh my god! Dad! Dad!" Sam is screaming in a panic too great for his help to be of any use. Miguel hugs her tightly to prevent her from collapsing, but the boy is not much better either. His eyes are wide in horror as he watches as his sensei holds Mr. LaRusso. Mr. LaRusso, who just a few days ago shook his hand and whose blood begins to drip onto the pavement because he was stabbed (by the same man who once taught Miguel's classmates) in front of his eyes.

Johnny's mind works at a mile a minute, trying to don't let panic take over. What should he do? What the hell should he do? Should you remove the fragment? Should he leave it? And the blood, oh god, is so much blood that for an overwhelming moment he thinks that it is not possible for someone to live after having lost that amount of blood. The most evident thing besides the hemorrhage is the difficulty to breathe, notice clearly how Daniel seems to fight against his chest to be able to breathe halfway. He touches her cheek: "Breathe Daniel, come on" but even though Daniel's eyes are open, he doesn't seem like he can see or hear him. Shit shit shit. An ambulance. He can't help Daniel. They need an ambulance.

"Call someone!" he yells at the children. They don't move, they seem to be in some kind of shock. No time for that. "Now! Move!" and he is shocked at the despair that has gripped his voice.

His scream seems to make Miguel react, who quickly takes his phone out of his pocket and dials 911. Sam, no longer being held by Miguel, falls to the ground. Her eyes don't stray from the figure of her father on the ground, she is definitely in shock (seeing your father get stabbed will probably do that to you).

"Yeah ... They're coming sensei" Miguel warns him with a trembling voice. "They say you should ... put pressure on the wound," she explains tersely, holding onto her phone so tightly that the screen glass shatters and she doesn't even notice it.

"Put pressure on the wound, okay" he mutters to himself, but his hand stops inches from the wound. What if he does it wrong? What if he hurts him even more? Shit, no, he doesn't have time to be a baby, Daniel's life depends on this. He presses his hand over the wound, around the hideous shard of glass still sticking out of LaRusso's abdomen and leaves it there even though it looks fucking useless as blood starts seeping through his fingers almost instantly. And then he realizes: Daniel's life depends on this, it depends on him, the failed disaster Johnny Lawrence. The realization that Daniel can indeed _die_ in this damned place hits him so hard that he can't help but groan in anguish.

He looks at Daniel's face. His eyes are closed now, his hair disheveled, the wounds on his face from the fall of the window, his forehead sweaty, and in his chest there is an increasingly difficult struggle for breath. He is not an option that dies, no, Johnny is not going to allow it. Not now, not after all that they have accomplished. Not like this. Not Daniel, who bought him food in his temporary truce, fought alongside him and said goodbye with a smile in his velvet suit at the party _just an hour ago_. Not Daniel, who just saved her life, apparently at the cost of his own.

Fuck, how long can a fucking ambulance take?

At that moment, he hears footsteps behind him and instantly fears that it is Kreese, and if is, he will have to accept that he is going ti die here, because there is no wsy in hell that anything can separate him from Daniel LaRusso now. However, when he looks up, it is not Kreese, but Robby.

"What happe ...?" Johnny sees the exact moment when his son's words get stuck and his eyes widen in shock when he sees Daniel. "Mr. LaRusso?" he asks in a suddenly tiny voice, nothing like the voice he used to yell at his father earlier in the dojo.

His gaze travels from Kreese's unconscious body and back to Daniel, bleeding in Johnny's arms. "Que...?"

Johnny discovers that he is not able to answer it, he is not able to speak at all. Miguel, on the other hand, seems to be having a noisy mental breakdown, because he looks at Robby and yells at him, pointing at Kreese, "What happened? That motherfucker stabbed him! God!" Miguel covers his face with his hands in anger and frustration, and Johnny knows what he's feeling: impotence. Samantha LaRusso only cries louder, hugging herself.

Robby's eyes fill with tears, his lower lip trembles as he drops to his knees against the tangle of glass. Tears quickly start to roll down his cheeks. "He is ... is ...?" she babbles, choking on the words. Her voice is a mixture of regret, shame, fear and pure pain.

"No!" Johnny yells, horrified at the mere implication of his son's words. "I won't ... I won't allow it" he Only then does he realize that he is crying too. He refocuses on Daniel and a sob catches in his throat. Daniel cannot die, he would not bear it. Tears fall and Johnny doesn't stop them.

Daniel opens his eyes, glassy and wet, as if it were a small miracle, and although it still seems that he cannot really see it, he puts a hand to Johnny's cheek and murmurs in a worn, almost inaudible voice: "Don't...cry ... please "and gives a couple of awkward pats to Johnny's cheek as if trying to caress it to reassure him. Johnny's heart aches at the thought that LaRusso, in her state, is still caring for him. He places her hand on his and murmurs, "Then don't die, idiot."

_Please stay with me._

The sounds of the ambulance are heard in the distance, but Johnny is not relieved. He hardly listens to them. He can only think of how cold Daniel begins to feel in his arms and watch in horror as his lips turn to blood when he coughs. He doesn't know what that means, but damn it, it's bad. At some point, the muffled voices of the children were also lost, even the murmur of Robby who all he does is repeat inaudible words over and over again, as if he does not understand what is happening. The only thing Johnny can see or hear is Daniel.

"I'm ... sorry" he hears him mutter and watches his eyes close again. No god no

"No no no. LaRusso. Daniel! Don't do this. They need you" he begs him, and then in a much lower tone and hoping he can hear it: "I need you. Daniel, please"

Nothing happens. Daniel doesn't open his eyes, doesn't move, his arms fall limp at his sides. And, after a moment, he also notices that he is _not breathing_.

"Breathe, Daniel" he babbles him, touching his cheek. Nothing happens. Daniel is not breathing. He doesn't breathe, he doesn't breathe, he doesn't breathe. It is at that moment when Johnny is completely lost. Time seems to stop around him. Everything disappears.

Daniel is not breathing. He is not breathing.

Someone takes him by the shoulders and Johnny fights blindly. He doesn't want to leave Daniel, he doesn't want him to be taken from him and this ends up being the last time he sees him. Finally, they push it away. Someone yells something about a respirator and intubate.

"Where is Daniel?" he murmurs to him, his blank stare, his hands red, "Where's Daniel?"

Someone shines a light in his eyes and asks him questions that Johnny doesn't understand. Daniel, he needs to find Daniel.

"Where is the?" he manages to ask.

A man dressed in blue in front of him puts a blanket on his shoulders and he talks, but he doesn't talk to Johnny, says: "He's shocked, I think he has a minor trachea crush. We will take him in the other ambulance" Johnny don't wants another ambulance, nor a fucking blanket, he just wants to be told where Daniel is.

He hears an engine start and then someone forces him to get up.

"Will he ... will he be okay?" he hears a question from Miguel behind his back (the boy seems to be the only one who can hold it all together and talk). Johnny knows they are talking about Daniel, even though the other things around him are foreign to him.

"We do our best. If resists, they will take him to surgery when he gets to the hospital," the man explains.

Johnny is dragged into the ambulance in a haze. Someone takes his hand at some point, but he doesn't even know who he is. The only thing he remembers are the words of the man in blue, wich are repeated in his head over and over like a loop: _If it_ resists.

And if not?

* * *

Johnny does not remember the ambulance ride, not Robby and Samantha crying on opposite sides, one quietly and the other loud, or Miguel holding his hand. He does not remember how he got off the ambulance and entered the hospital, or who removed the blood from his hands.

The first memory is when Amanda (when had she arrived? She hadn't even noticed her until she was right in front of him) came over and squeezed firmly on her arm. "They have him, Johnny. They're going to take him to surgery," she told him.

Daniel ... Daniel was alive, for now. In surgery. That had to be enough.

Someone bandages Johnny's knuckles and puts an ice pack on his throat.

At some point, Robby is taken away to see the wound on his forehead. Everything feels like irreparable chaos.

"Don't worry sensei" Miguel tells him. Johnny finds his voice at the bottom of the barrel. "They have Kreese, he's going to jail. He won't hurt anymore."

That must have happened a long time ago. Kreese should never have been free. What if the damage it caused is now irreparable?

Miguel hugs him and Johnny lets him do it.

* * *

The surgery takes hours. Something about perforation of the rib cage, high blood loss, transfusion and a thousand other details. Everything is a mess of data and medical probabilities that Johnny doesn't understand at all.

So he's left behind, still not quite present, but more knowledgeable about his surroundings: He knows he's sitting in a plastic chair in the hospital waiting room, he knows Amanda LaRusso is there too, and Samantha and Anthony are there sons of Daniel. Miguel too, has moved away from Johnny to find Sam in his arms.

The damn red light that indicates surgery is in progress is still on and Johnny hates it. A hand rests on his and Johnny starts. He looks to the side of him and discovers that it is not Miguel, but Robby. His son doesn't look at him, but neither does he take her hand away from his. The boy has wild hair and glassy eyes, although he doesn't cry. He's still wearing Cobra Kai's fucking snake gi on his back, but that already means nothing.

Johnny intertwines his fingers with his son's in mutual support, and waits.

* * *

He lost too much blood. Johnny knows. He wants to yell at them to stop saying it because he knows. He was there. That blood is still on his clothes, damn it!

The surgery ends and the doctor finds them. Amanda stands up and the children do the same. Johnny doesn't have the strength to do anything but lift his head.

And then the doctor says, "We did our best, but it is my duty to inform you that there is still a possibility that Mr. LaRusso will not spend the night."

Shit. Shit!

Johnny sticks his fist through the wall next to him and doesn't even care if everyone looks at him.

They bandage his knuckles again.

All he can do is keep waiting.

* * *

They don't even let them see it.

He is being monitored and his condition is still critical, they say. No one can see it. Johnny wants to tell them to fuck off and come in anyway, but he's tired, he doesn't have the strength left to fight another battle.

So instead, he clenches his fists on his knees and murmurs into the air, hoping that somehow his words will reach Daniel. "Come on, LaRusso, don't be a baby, you're more stubborn than this. You have to live."

His pleas have never been enough for anything he has ever needed, but all he can do is hold onto the hope that this time they can be.

* * *

He dawns and then the sun starts to go down again and Johnny doesn't even notice it. He doesn't get any coffee or answer any questions or get out of that damn chair until the doctor, damn slow idiot, finally comes back.

"He is stable now" he warns "We still have to wait for him to wake up, but I can say that from now on he will be a road to recovery. He is a strong man"

 _He has no idea_ , Johnny thinks. LaRusso has always been a headache who never gives up, and now he's grateful that is.

Johnny's sigh of relief joins that of everyone else in that waiting room.

"I can see him?" Johnny asks suddenly, standing up for the first time and his legs feeling numb as he does so. The others turn to him, as if they were surprised to hear him speak. Johnny knows he has no right to ask that question, he's not a close relative and, heck, he probably can't even say he's his friend, but the thing between him and Daniel has always been deeper than labels, there's sync between them even when they are arguing. He knows, in some strange way that he can't explain, that he knows Daniel completely and with the darkest parts of him, and Daniel knows his, and Johnny knows that he wants to stay. He's not going to walk away now, not when he finally found out that _he wants to stay with him._

The doctor nods to his question.

"A nurse will come to pick you up and take you"

 _You're not getting rid of me that easy, Daniel_ , Johnny thinks, and notices that the anvil on his chest is getting lighter.

* * *

Daniel has yet to wake up.

Doctors say it could take days. These things are complicated, they claim, it depends on the individual.

At least now he can see it. Amanda and her children enter first. When they go out, Amanda is glassy-eyed and holding the children by one arm each. Robby doesn't want to go in (he doesn't explain, he just sits in the waiting room like a stone statue), so Johnny is next.

Daniel is a little unrecognizable there, lying on the bed and motionless, without any intelligent and conceited comment to say. His huge brown eyes are closed. His red lips hidden under an oxygen mask and his arms invaded with IVs. The heart rate monitor emits a constant beep. He is _alive_. Johnny flops into the chair next to him, hating having to see someone he cares again in a hospital bed (because yeah, it seems like he had to see him near death to figure that out). After a moment's hesitation, he takes his hand.

* * *

Johnny has decided that no one is going to move him from the hospital until Daniel wakes up, no matter what others tell him that he should go, eat something out, sleep in a bed, take a shower. He tells Daniel: "I'm not leaving until you wake up, so if you don't want me to stink this damn room with my smell, open those eyes for me, you idiot."

The second day since he left after LaRusso left the operation, Johnny goes out to go to the bathroom (he's wearing clean clothes now, some of the things lost from the hospital) and when he comes back Robby finds him on the road. The boy looks at him as if the simple act of doing it is something very difficult, his fists clenched at his side, and Johnny hates himself for making him feel that way. He's not looking at Johnny when he mutters a barely audible "I'm sorry."

Johnny shakes his head. "None of this is your fault, Robby. I didn't prepare you for Kreese. I left you alone when you needed me and I should have fought for you. You deserve me to fight for you, every fucking time, understand?"

Robby's shoulders shake "I ... trusted him ... Kreese ... offered me a home and I just ..." the boy takes a deep breath and Johnny sees in him the image of LaRusso breathing deeply in the same way when something surpasses it. "I was angry, I didn't know that he ... I never thought he would ..." Robby's voice breaks.

Johnny doesn't think he has the right to hug him, and he's not prepared for rejection either, so he puts a hand on his shoulder instead. However, as soon as he does, Robby breaks down and hugs him tightly. "I didn't want him to hurt Mr. LaRusso ... I didn't want to ... I didn't want ... I never ..." she sobs, his voice muffled from him against Johnny's shirt.

Johnny reciprocates the hug with the same force, remembering that Robby is just a child, a child who has been through things that no child should. "I know Robby, and I know he knows too ..."

He knows there is still a lot to work on between them. Kreese must have been working on his head, Johnny knows better than anyone how that is. And he also knows that his with Robby is not going to be fixed overnight, but this is a start.

* * *

On the third day Johnny takes the audacity to stroke Daniel's hair and run his fingers down his cheek. LaRusso's skin is smooth, of course, you fucking idiot who doesn't seem to age. He stays with him until Robby shows up at the door in new clothes (he's staying at the LaRusso's again, temporarily at least) and asks almost shyly, "Can I come in?"

Johnny gives LaRusso's hand one last squeeze and nods, leaving the room to give Robby some time alone with his teacher.

On the third day, he also talks to Amanda. She brings him coffee and a hamburger and sits next to her with her own coffee.

"You love him, right?" she says out of nowhere, and even though it's a question, it sounds like a statement. Amanda LaRusso, as direct as ever.

Johnny spits his coffee back into the glass, because he definitely didn't expect that.

"I don't know what you're ..." Johnny stammers, not knowing why he feels cornered. Amanda shuts him down with a simple wave of her hand

"Don't even try. I saw you in there," she points out. Johnny wonders in a panic if he means when he took Daniel's hand, or when he touched his cheek or his hair, or when he sang _You're the best around_ in an attempt to cheer him up, and then he begins to understand. what she is referring to. "Okay, I'm not mad" she clarifies.

Johnny looks at her in confusion and half a hamburger in her mouth. "Aren't you?"

"We're getting divorced. It's mutual. Just so you know." she clarifies. "I love him still, just not that way anymore. That means I'll twist your balls with pliers if you hurt him."

Johnny laughs nervously, because he is sure that she is serious.

"I still don't know anything, Amanda" he acknowledges.

Her gaze softens. "Do you love him, Johnny?" He repeats the question that Johnny has been dreading asking himself all this time.

Daniel LaRusso is the fire that Johnny always burns in, but he also calms her in his eternal storm.

He gently nods his head. "Yes, I do it"

* * *

On the morning of the fourth day, Daniel LaRusso wakes up.

* * *

Smell is the first thing he wakes up. Daniel smells the antiseptic and disinfectant and quickly recognizes it as the smell of the hospital. Next is the audition. The beeps of the machine, the sounds of nurses walking and horns in the distance and ... is someone singing? That voice ... Daniel opens his eyes and the light on him is so blinding that he has to close them again. He tries again, slower this time. He feels heavy, sleepy. A dull ache spreads from his abdomen to his entire chest. He is, as he guessed, in a hospital room, there is a monitor to the left of him and to the right of him ...

"Johnny?" he mutters through an oxygen mask, his voice hoarse and raspy with disuse.

Indeed, Johnny stops humming (That was _You're the best around_?) And jumps up. Daniel doesn't realize he was holding his hand until he releases it.

"Daniel" he says, in a tone so soft that he doesn't remember hearing it used before. "He's okay, okay, calm down, I'll call a nurse" however he stops midway as if he forgot something. Daniel watches sleepily as he turns and recoils in his footsteps. He leans over to Daniel and kisses his forehead gently, just a touch, but Daniel feels it electric. "I'll be back," Johnny murmurs against his forehead, and then quickly walks away.

Daniel makes a note of asking the nurses how high he is, because this was definitely not real.

* * *

He remembers everything, gradually. The fight in the dojo. Kreese. The stab. The blood. Johnny holding him in his arms, crying, asking him to breathe. He is overwhelming. Then the nurses give him all the information he needs to know about himself: unconscious for almost four days, high blood loss, stabbing to the chest. I'm about to fail.

The revelation of having been so close to death shakes him to the core, but he doesn't break him down. He is alive, he is here, even if his body doesn't even feel like he right now. That's enough for now, he can work with that.

His children and Amanda visit him later. Sam and Anthony cry and hold his hands and Daniel ignores the tug on his side to allow them to hug him. He hates worrying them so much. Amanda smiles at him, but Daniel can see the concern in his unkempt appearance. She talks to him about Johnny, how she hasn't been separated from him since they allowed her visits and Daniel feels warm listening to him. She also tells him that Kreese is on remand preparing for trial. And that Robby is with them.

 _Okay_ , Daniel thinks, _so it was worth it_.

He sees Robby later. The boy tries to appear firm, but he quickly collapses. Daniel assures her that it is not his fault, that he will be fine, and despite everything, he truly believes it. Robby is always going to be his student, and Daniel is always going to be his teacher. That doesn't mean he takes the place of his father, he knows that now. He'll get it right this time, he promises himself. This boy doesn't deserve to go through any more painful things.

* * *

In the end, Johnny returns. Daniel can't help but think of Amanda's words when he see him: "He didn't move from you any of these days."

"You're here" Daniel points out foolishly.

Johnny smiles. It looks better than the first time Daniel saw it, he probably took a shower. "I told you I'd be back" he replies, sitting down in the plastic chair next to the bed.

So the forehead kiss was not a drug-induced hallucination, it actually happened.

Johnny makes the move to bring his hand to Daniel's, but halfway through he seems to realize what he's doing, because he pulls it back and clears his throat. "You ... uh ... how are you feeling?"

Daniel blinks up at the ceiling. "I guess I've been better, and could be worse," he replies, sighing, and then smiles softly in Johnny's direction. "They told me you were my guardian angel"

Johnny's ears turn red and he opens his eyes wide in his direction: "I wouldn't say angel ... More like a rude bodyguard"

Daniel sighs. "I'm sorry" he tells her suddenly.

Johnny frowns without understanding.

"I couldn't breathe, I was ... I couldn't do it, sorry"

Johnny seems to decide that he should fuck everything, because this time he takes Daniel's hand and squeezes it firmly. "Hey, idiot, you saved my life. You don't have to apologize" he looks away, but he doesn't let go of her hand. "I am sorry. I couldn't notice it in time. I should have avoided it."

Daniel gently shakes his head and returns the squeeze. "You stayed with me," he points out, hoping it's clear that that's more than enough, that that means everything.

"I did, i will" Johnny affirms, and his gaze turns haunted. "I thought you were going to ..."

Daniel doesn't need Johnny to end that thought. "I'm here, I'm not going anywhere" he murmurs reassuringly.

Johnny strokes her knuckles with his thumb. "You better be, because otherwise you would have made me have to follow you to hell"

Daniel shakes his head, but he can't help but smile. "So ... you were singing Joe Esposito when I woke up?"

"I do not know what you're talking about"

"Oh come on, I heard it clearly"

"You were high, you probably hallucinated"

"You were totally singing there Johnny"

"Shut up, LaRusso"

However, they are both smiling at each other. Johnny reaches out with his free hand and gently places it on his cheek. Daniel leans toward the touch. Johnny asks hesitantly: "Is it okay if i ...?"

"Yes John, you can"

Johnny leans in and his lips land on Daniel's. It's a soft kiss, bringing your parted lips together. Johnny acts like Daniel is going to break for any wrong move, but it's still a heartfelt kiss. It doesn't last long, but to them it feels like a lifetime. They separate and their noses touch. Johnny goes up a bit and kisses her forehead. They know there is a lot to talk about, but also that there is no rush to do so: They are both going to stay.

"You should rest," Daniel points out, after a moment of suspended silence.

Johnny raises an eyebrow.

"Did I just kiss you and is that what you are going to tell me?"

Daniel sighs with a smile. "You know what I mean. It looks like you haven't slept in days. Come on, lay your head here and get some sleep. We'll be here later."

"Sleeping is for the weak" Johnny affirms.

Daniel rolls his eyes. God, this man is going to take all the energy out of him. But it's worth it.

"Johnny ..."

"Fine fine. Bossy" Johnny snorts, and obeys. He pulls his chair closer to the table and raises his arms, bringing them together and laying his head on them. Daniel raises his hand and places it on Johnny's head, gently stroking his blond hair. They close their eyes and the tiredness allows both of them to fall asleep quickly.

They both think, know, that there is no other place in the world they would rather be right now.

**Author's Note:**

> I must confess that this idea came up when I was watching that final scene of the third season and Sam appears, at that moment my brother and I believed that when Daniel turned around Kreese would attack him taking advantage of the distraction and we were in a moment of panic for a few seconds, but it did not happen .
> 
> The idea of how things would have changed if that had happened kept spinning in my mind and, well, here is the fic I wrote for her.


End file.
